Middle of nowhere, drizzling non stop, windy and cold? It must be the Highlands! Still, it keeps the midgies away!
Month: May 2009
Glencoe
Made it through Rannoch Moor in pretty bad conditions. Up and now down Glencoe. No shelter on the moor. To stop being cold, pedal harder. 50 miles in 4h 40m. Hopefully lunch awaits down at sea level. 🙂
Crianlarich
Crianlarich, then onto Tyndrum for more gps batteries. Been in cloud all morning. Not expecting to see many wildebeasts magestically sweeping across the plains of Rannoch Moor. 23 miles done so far, at a fair old pace due to the busy road round the top of loch lomond. Traffic wasn’t too bad, with it being early morning and also some roadworks bunching up the cars.
By yon bonnie banks
A sunny day at last, and lots of miles too. After crossing the Erskine Bridge, I followed the cycle path. It was nice, but as it wound carefully through quiet residential streets, I couldn’t help but feel it was a fairly slow way to get along. Great for a weekend stroll, mildly frustrating during a LEJOG ride. Still, as advertised, it did get me up to Balloch.
I then struggled to find the start of the next cyclepath to avoid via A82. Couldn’t find it. Ended up doing the first few miles on the road, turning off at some holiday place, duck world or something like that. Passing a hotel and a wedding, i found myself at the lochside, but no path to cycle on. As i retraced my steps, checking all other possible routes, I realised that the cycle path was literally just the pavement by the side of the A82! I wasn’t very impressed! Still, better than being actually on the road. The path improved a bit later on, using parts of the old lochside A82 tarmac. Still, it took a long time to do the 15 miles up to Tarbet.
Wierdest moment of the day came after heading west for 2 miles to the hotel in Arrochar. I came to the junction and met . . . the sea! Well, a sea loch anyway. An unmistakable smell of salt water, after a day spent next to a fresh water loch. Really striking.
Tomorrow is, in the Rumsfeld ontology, a known unknown. Rannoch Moor, Glencoe and Fort William. Never done it on a bike before though!
Sustrans FTW
Woo, cycle paths all the rest of the way it seems. 🙂
Erskine Bridge
Hard to find a pretty view of the Erskine Bridge! This was my best shot. Sure beats swimming across the Clyde though.
Howwood
Awesome wood table outside the Howwood Inn. The big 30mph run down the hill into town was fun too. The sudden and massive ruts and piles of gravel on the road just as you reach town at 30mph were less fun! I’ve been suprised how many times i’ve had to call on glentress skills on this trip (ie. That chopped up right hander on spooky wood where everyone brakes was a dead ringer for the entrance to Howwood).
Next i have to find a place called Houston. Hopefully, there will be no problems to report from there.
Ayrshire
North of Dunlop. The sun is out, the wind is behind me, I’m well fed and heading for Loch Lomond. A pretty fine cycling day, I think.
T’was there we parted …
Tomorrow, I need to work my way up through Kilmarnock (should’ve asked DaveM for survival tips) and then on to cross the Clyde at the Erskine Bridge before I get to Loch Lomond. I was pleasantly surprised today to find that there is now a proper cycle path alongside Loch Lomond (ie. no need to cycle on the A82). B&B for the night is in Arrochar, just along from Tarbet. So, back to heavy map reading and, since I’m no longer on the CTC suggested route, there’s much more potential for navigation snafus.
Training ground, revisited.
Thanks for the practise, Mennock Pass, turns out you were ideal prep for Cornwall and Devon! Today was a long slog against the wind and a succession of smaller hills across into Ayrshire. Not many photo ops, just lots of hard won miles. I stopped for an early lunch at a nice farm shop just south of Thornhill. I had just cycled past it when the heavens opened, which i took to be a sign that it was lunchtime!
Chatted to another LEJOG’r, Mike from Kent. It’s pretty easy to spot long distance cyclists. They’re the ones who look like they’re prepared for all conditions, and they have a certain ‘could do this all day’ steady pace. I settled on ‘going far?’ as my opening line. 🙂
Lots of traffic on the Kilmarnock road today. The lorry drivers have all been great, holding back until there’s space to pass, and i’ve had lots of friendly waves when i’ve pulled into the side so that they don’t have to come grinding to a halt up a hill. Bus drivers are probably the worst, guess they’re on a schedule.